Conventional rakes are typically used to sweep leaves or other materials into a pile which is then picked up and placed within bags or other containers for disposal. The task of picking up these piles can be quite burdensome and strain the back of even an athletic person. The elderly and handicapped may well find the task impossible.
To date, there are a wide variety of rakes having apparatus for grasping these piles of materials, thereby lessening or eliminating the need for the user to bend over. These devices suffer three basic problems. First, the capacity of the grasping apparatus is quite small, forcing the user to make frequent trips to dispose of a pile of leaves. Second, each rake with grasping apparatus must be purchased as a complete unit, since the basic rake is modified to add the grasping apparatus. Finally, the grasping head of the grasping apparatus is generally of equal size and weight as the rake head, thus adding a significant amount of weight to the device. This additional weight directly reduces the ease and convenience of using the grasping apparatus.